NORTH COUNTY  Jake Robinson might be the reason many teens buckle up even when mom and dad aren’t in the car. He might be the reason they ease up on the accelerator, or put down their cellphone while they’re behind the wheel.

Perhaps they heard Robinson talk about his “one silly, stupid decision,” the one that left him paralyzed, with no feeling from the waist down.

Perhaps they saw him in his wheelchair, watched his million-dollar smile melt as he spoke of driving without a seat belt as he raced up Stage Coach Lane in Fallbrook in 2008 after high school football practice.

For four years now, with his raw account of the crash, Robinson has been the must-see speaker at a number of safe-driving school assemblies across North County and Southwest Riverside County.

Moved by his story, Melissa Moreno age 17, hugs Jake Robinson after his talks to students at Mission Hill High School in San Marcos about the dangers of driving with out a safety belt and other hazards like drinking and driving. — Jamie Scott Lytle

Moved by his story, Melissa Moreno age 17, hugs Jake Robinson after his talks to students at Mission Hill High School in San Marcos about the dangers of driving with out a safety belt and other hazards like drinking and driving.
— Jamie Scott Lytle

At an assembly at Mission Hills High in San Marcos earlier this month, Robinson wondered aloud about what someone could have said to him at similar school gatherings five, six years ago that would have made a difference.

Now, just months away from graduating with a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience, he still doesn’t know. But he’s going to try to get through to today’s teens.

“What has to happen is that you guys have to have something change inside of you. You have to have to find something to hold on to from this event,” Robinson told the crowd.

When others spoke, some of the teens kept their heads down, faces illuminated by cellphone light. Then Robinson took the microphone. All eyes trained on him.

“You want to blow it off,” he said, choking up. “But I’ll tell you this much, I blew it off, too. I blew it off and I shouldn’t be alive today."

Now 22, the former starting wide receiver and star student looks like those in the young crowd. He identifies with them. And they identify with him.

“It seems like he was in my shoes,” Mission Hills junior Brad Sochowski, 17, said after the assembly. “His story just opens our eyes and lets us know it can happen.”

That reaction is exactly why authorities and administrators seek out Robinson to deliver a message that could otherwise be seen as nagging and finger-wagging.

“They see the pain in his eyes and see him in the wheelchair. They can see this was the result of a poor choice behind the wheel,” said California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt, who runs safe-driving events across North County.

Bettencourt said he believes Robinson’s story does change teen driving habits.

“They are almost looking in a mirror, and that could be them,” he said.

Robinson was playfully taunting and tailgating a good friend as they left school in separate cars and headed up Stage Coach Lane about 9 p.m. Sept. 23, 2008.

He was speeding and not wearing a seat belt when he lost control of his car. It spun and slammed into a pole as he bounced around inside. When he opened his eyes, “dust was all around.” He moved to get out. His legs wouldn’t respond.